Free Republic

The former U.N. weapons inspector convicted in an online sex sting has been sentenced to 1½ to 5½ years in state prison. Following his sentencing in Monroe County Court on Wednesday afternoon, Scott Ritter was led out in handcuffs and sent to Monroe County Correctional Facility, where he will remain until it is determined which state prison he will serve his sentence at.

A former chief United Nations weapons inspector is accused of contacting what he thought was a 15-year-old girl in an Internet chat room, engaging in a sexual conversation and showing himself masturbating on a Web camera. Scott Ritter of Delmar, N.Y., who served as chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991-98 and who was an outspoken critic of the second Bush administration in the run-up to the war in Iraq, is accused of contacting what turned out to be a Barrett Township police officer posing undercover as a teen girl.

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., wasted no time going on the offensive against Pat Toomey, his challenger in next year's Republican primary. Toomey officially announced his candidacy on Wednesday morning. Specter came out swinging Wednesday afternoon, accusing his Republican primary opponent of helping to cause the financial meltdown. "Toomey was against regulation. He was with Barney Frank and Dodd," he said, referring to two Democratic architects of the federal bank bailout, Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank and Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd. "He's a big part of the problem, and now like the AIG guys, he wants a promotion,” Specter said. “He...

EAST STROUDSBURG — A dollar on eBay makes a pricey classroom trailer go away. In 2006, East Stroudsburg Area School District bought a portable classroom for $62,000. In December, the same unit sold online for $1. Now, board members, taxpayers and administrators are fuming, and wondering how it could have happened... It was the winter break, and Brad Fitzpatrick, a member of the district's technology staff, placed the trailer on eBay, according to board minutes. Typically, sellers on eBay place reserves on their merchandise. That means they set a minimum acceptable level at which their item can sell. If no...

<p>One current and five former students are suing East Stroudsburg University, claiming a top administrator pursued unwanted sex with them – including genital groping and oral sex – and school officials covered up his alleged crimes.</p> <p>The chief object of the complaint is Isaac Sanders, the ousted executive director of the ESU Foundation and vice president for advancement at the university.</p>